Hybridstorm's Weather Blog

Tuesday, April 01, 2014

All time record cold March for northern and eastern Maine!

...Northern and eastern Maine monthly climate narrative...***Coldest March on record at Caribou and tied for coldest march onrecord at Bangor***

March 2014 finished as a record cold month in many areas with well above normal snowfall, especially across northern maine.
The average temperature at Caribou of 15.1 degrees was 9.4 degrees below the 1981-2010 average temperature. It was the coldest March on record at Caribou, and beat out 1939 by 2 tenths of a degree.

There were a total of 14 nights when the low temperature dropped below zero, which tied with 1939 for the most nights with a temperature below zero at Caribou during the month of March. For the winter season there were a total of 55 nights with a low below zero, the most since the winter of 2002-03.

There was a total of 42.1 inches of snow at Caribou, which was 23.8 inches above normal. It ranked as the 3rd snowiest March on record behind only 2008 and 1955. 1955 still holds the top honors with 47.1 inches of snow. This past March continued a recent trend of 40+ inch snowfall months. Since 1939 there have only been 18 months with a total above 40 inches with 8 of them having occurred since the year 2000.

For the 2013-14 winter season a total of 141.5 inches of snow has been observed, which is 41 inches above normal. This winter now ranks as the 8th snowiest on record.

At Bangor, the average temperature of 22.7 degrees was 7.5 degrees below average. It tied with 1939 as the coldest march on record.
There were a total of 6 nights with a low temperature below zero, which was the most during the month of march since 1948. The low temperature of zero on the 25th was the latest date on record for the temperature to drop to zero at Bangor. The old record was march 20, 1993.

As far as snowfall goes, Bangor ended up with 15.7 inches of snow, which was 4 inches above normal. There was continuous snowpack on the ground all March, which has not happened at Bangor since 1994. For the 2013-14 winter season a total of 78.9 inches of snow has been observed, which is 16 inches above normal.

The month began with a snow pack which ranged from 6 to 12 inches Downeast, and mostly from 18 to 30 inches across northern maine, With local amounts in excess of 3 feet across the north Maine woods. The snow pack increased across northern Maine, and by the end of the month ranged from 2 1/2 to 4 feet across northern maine and dropped off across downeast maine with amounts ranging from an inch or less up to 3 inches along the immediate coast and from 1/2 foot to 2 feet inland.

The most widespread snowfall occurred on March 12-13, 2014 with widespread totals in excess of a foot across northern and central maine into parts of interior downeast maine. Amounts dropped off to 3 to 6 inches along the coast. Another storm on the 20th produced from 8 to 12 inches of snow across much of northern and central maine. A blizzard on the 26th into the 27th affected mainly Washington and coastal Hancock counties. A winter storm on the 30th produced from 4 to 12 inches of snow across northern and central maine. Another event on the 31st produced up to 8 inches of snow in parts of Washington county with one to two inches of sleet in parts of washington and hancock counties.

The average wind speed at Caribou was 8.8 mph and at Bangor was 9 mph, which made it by far the windiest month this winter. The peak wind speed for the month at Caribou was 43 mph on the 27th. The peak wind speed at Bangor this past March was 53 mph on the 26th.

The outlook from the climate prediction center indicates an increased likelihood of below normal temperatures across western Maine, and no strong climate signals that would point toward an unusually cold or warm april across eastern Maine. There are no strong climate signals that would tilt the odds towards an unusually cold or mild April. Daylight increases steadily with over an hour and a half gain in daylight during the month of April.

Wind Gusts to 103 knot/119 mph at Buoy 44027, Maine, Were in Error

...Wind Gusts to 103 knot/119 mph at Buoy 44027 Were Most Likely in Error...

Upon further examination, it appears the extreme winds gusts of 103 knots or 119 mph on Wednesday March 26 at buoy 44027 20 NM SE of Jonesport were in error. This determination was made based on continued very high wind gust readings in the following days. The National Data Buoy Center has disabled the wind gusts from this buoy on their webpage until the issue with the buoy is resolved. We apologize for any inconvenience or confusion this has caused.